Rockies unveil Todd Helton statue outside of Coors Field

DENVER — Todd Helton — and the moment the Rockies clinched their first World Series trip 19 years ago — now have immortal status by the home-place entrance to Coors Field.

The Rockies unveiled the statue in honor of the 2023 Hall of Fame inductee at a ceremony Saturday afternoon outside of Coors Field. The statue captures the moment when Helton celebrated after recording the final out of Game 4 of the 2007 National League Championship Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, sealing a four-game sweep that sent the team to its only — to date — World Series appearance.

Now captured in bronze, that was the crowning moment of Rocktober, an otherworldly late-season and playoff run that saw the Rockies win 21 of 22 games down the stretch and in the postseason before falling to the Boston Red Sox in four games.

Helton thanked his family, former teammates — including fellow Hall of Famer Larry Walker, whose statue was unveiled 27 days earlier — and Rockies staff and officials, including former manager Clint Hurdle and owner Dick Monfort.

“Baseball is an individual game in a lot of ways. You stand at the plate alone; you take the field alone,” Helton said. “But you never get anywhere alone.”

And part of that, as Helton shared with the hundreds of fans on hand for the ceremony, was the connection he forged with Rockies fans.

“I don’t know if there is another place quite like Denver,” Helton said. “From the early days of this franchise to the years when this stadium became a second home for me, you showed up. You cheered when things were going so well. You stayed with us when they weren’t.

“You gave me something that every ballplayer hopes to have: A connection with the people in the stands.”

And now those same fans will get to think of Helton every time they walk to the corner of 20th and Blake Streets and enter Coors Field through the home-plate entrance.

Further, the Rockies now have a proper place to celebrate the club’s legends, just like other stadiums fare and wide throughout Major League Baseball.

“I hope that when people walk past this statue years from now, they don’t just think about me,” Helton said.

“I hope they think about baseball. I hope they think about the Rockies. And I hope they think about the memories they made here with their family and friends. And I hope a young kid walking through these gates looks up at this statue and thinks maybe someday that could be me. If that happens, then this honor could be more than I could ever put into words.

“Denver, Colorado. Thank you for that incredible life in baseball, and thank you for letting me be a Rockie. I am — and always will be — incredibly proud to be part of this family.”

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